Manchester Giants ended their four-game losing streak with a win that was as much about character as it was class.

Coach Jeff Jones’ men had taken a hammering on Saturday night at Newcastle – albeit against the strongest team in the league.

So they were desperate to bounce back and restore some pride in front of their home fans.

And while victory over the Durham Wildcats – before this game with the same record as the Giants – didn’t exactly represent all Jones’ Christmases coming at once, it was still very welcome after the night before.

Not only that, it was vital in putting an end to a gloomy spell of one win in eight games that was in the process of undoing much of the good work they did early in the season – and giving the Giants the key head-tohead record over their visitors.

Jones stuck largely with his key core group after the demoralising defeat they suffered at the hands of the ruthless Eagles.

And he said afterwards: “I went with the guys that I thought would show character and they did.

“To be fair they responded well.

“We appreciate the sacrifices they all make as a team but some stage I have to hold them to account and maybe I’ve not done that enough.

“We needed guys that wanted to win more than they did – as simple as that. And luckily we had that.”

The Giants started brightly surging in ahead by as much as 12 points in the first quarter.

But Durham closed the gap to 25-20 by the end of that period and showed they weren’t going to lie down.

They countered in the second period and despite good work from Mike Bernard and Ben Eaves and an outrageously deep three from David Watts, the visitors edged their way back into it to take a slim 48-47 lead into the half-time break.

The third period was a low-scoring war of attrition with both sides matching each other in the early minutes.

But Stefan Gill came alive to score 10 consecutive Giants points and help nudge them into a 63-59 advantage going into the fourth.

This time it Bernard’s turn to take the fight to Durham, the big man scoring seven of his team’s 17 fourth-quarter points to help seal the win.

A committed an energetic Eaves led the Giants with 20 points and eight rebounds and Bernard bossed the paint with 17.

Gill hit 14 and made four assists while Watts had 11, including three threes from seven attempts. Callum Jones didn’t enjoy his best shooting night, but led his team and claimed a game-highs in rebounds (10) and assists (six).

Fran Urli offered the visitor’s chief threat with 15 points.

Giants’ Ingus Bankevics recovered from the illness that kept him out of the Newcastle loss sufficiently to contribute 14 minutes and five points to win that moves them up to sixth in the table with a 7-10 record.

He should be fully healthy for Sunday’s visit of struggling Surrey United when the Giants will be hoping to build a winning run.